Steve Bough, the well-connected former chair of the Jackson County Democratic Party, will not be confirmed to serve on the county Sports Authority.

Sources tell The Star that Bough's name will be withdrawn in the next couple of weeks. Bough, a lawyer, has served on the panel that oversees the Truman Sports Complex for about six months and was awaiting Senate confirmation.

Said Bough:

"I enjoyed my service on the Sports Authority, and I think I did a good job for the taxpayers.”

Bough is said to have run into opposition from his own party in the form of new state Sen. Paul LeVota of Independence.

"It’s a senator’s prerogative to do this," Bough said. "It's Sen. LeVota’s prerogative to stop somebody’s nomination."

LeVota, a former House minority leader, told The Star that was neither working for or against the nomination.

"I have a lot of concern with anybody who would be appointed to that." he said of the Sports Authority. "I take the process really seriously to make sure we get the right people to do the right thing, and that is one that literally hits close to home because it is in my district."

Bough was appointed to be an aggressive overseer of the authority, and he reportedly did just that. Among the reforms he was pushing: an ethics policy aimed at disclosing any conflicts of interest by authority board members.